The Chinese regime is rapidly expanding its military and modernizing its weaponry. Taiwan and the United States could be caught flat-footed if they fail to recognize the urgency of the threat, analysts warn.
China will have the ability to mount a full-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2025, according to Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng. He also called the rising tensions between China and Taiwan the most severe he has seen in 40 years.
Retired Capt. James Fanell, former director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, agreed. The United States needs to be prepared for a conflict as tension escalates to “near out-of-control levels” between China and Taiwan, he told The Epoch Times.
Fanell said the Chinese regime has become an “aggressor nation.” While some would argue they haven’t taken enough military action to be called an aggressor, he said, “the people that are supposed to be intelligent and forward-thinking about national security shouldn’t have to wait for China to launch an invasion of Taiwan to then be able to say China is an aggressor.”
This year, Chinese warplanes have entered Taiwan’s air defense zone in record numbers. In November, two Chinese amphibious landing dock ships also simulated an assault east of Taiwan.
“Essentially, China is encircling Taiwan and putting a noose around its neck,” Fanell said, adding that “they’ll just keep tightening it more and more as time goes on.” Each provocation from the Chinese regime is an effort to get Taiwan to “lash out.” Such action, he added, could be used as justification by the Chinese regime to launch an invasion of Taiwan.
Ill-prepared for Conflict
According to the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index, China’s defense spending surpasses that of India, Japan, Taiwan, and all 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) combined.
David Sauer, a retired senior CIA officer who served as chief of station and deputy chief of station in multiple overseas command positions in East Asia and South Asia, said it is imperative to “read the writing on the wall and see looming danger [of the growing military power].”
If the Chinese regime were to move forward with an invasion of Taiwan, Sauer said, “they will want to do it as fast as possible, while limiting the amount of death and destruction.” He said he imagines “[the Chinese regime’s] goal would be to do it so fast that the U.S., Japan, and the international community can’t react fast enough to make any kind of difference.”
Time is running out for the United States and Taiwan to prepare to go to war with China, he said.
By J.M. Phelps
